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Face the Raven was the tenth episode of the ninth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales. The episode saw Rigsy and Ashildr return as well as Ashildr's first time interacting with Clara since The Girl Who Died.
The episode marked the death of companion Clara Oswald, who died during the episode's climax. The situation that led to her demise dealt with the consequences of what happens when a companion starts thinking too much like the Doctor and jeopardises themselves by imitating his self-sacrificial actions; Clara in particular had begun acting more reckless since the death of her boyfriend, Danny Pink, and hadn't even considered the consequences of her rash decision until it was too late.
Synopsis
The Doctor, Clara and Rigsy are trapped on an alien street in London, that is hidden from the rest of the world.
Ashildr, the immortal hybrid-girl, is taking care of some of the most dangerous creatures in the universe. Not everyone will get out alive, one of them must pay the price and face the raven.
Plot
The Doctor and Clara enter the TARDIS after an adventure. Suddenly they get a call from Rigsy saying that a mysterious tattoo has appeared on the back of his neck and is counting down to zero. They arrive at his flat finding out he has a wife and a newborn daughter. He tells them he has no idea on how it got onto him, he doesn't remember any events that had happened the previous day and also tells them that his screen has been cracked and wiped off any data from the phone. The Doctor takes him in the TARDIS and scans him and finds out he has been in contact with aliens in the last day and that he will die when the countdown gets to zero. They try to help him by trying to find out his movements from the last twenty four hours. While back at the TARDIS they theorise that there is a secret street called a trap street, designed to fool would be hoaxers. They soon come across it when Rigsy drops his phone and recalls the memories.
When they go into the street, they find that it is occupied by different aliens and species which is used so that humans think they have go into a misdirection and to look human to each other. Soon, aliens are led to them by Me, who is mayor of the street. Me explains that the street is a refugee camp and that Rigsy is being sentenced to death for killing Anah, a two faced Janus female; he had been retconned and given time to say goodbye to family; the tattoo is a Chronolock that leads a Quantum Shade which appears normally as a raven which kills the victim when the time goes down to zero. The Doctor and Clara believe that Rigsy did not kill Anah and has been framed for the murder. Me allows them to investigate the case and to make sure to convince everyone that he did not commit the crime so that the truce in the street is at peace and there will be no rivalry.
A man also has a Chronolock tattoo on the neck for stealing medical rations and his wife tells him to pass it on to her. He soon gets killed by the Raven. Clara soon learns that she can do this to Rigsy as she has absolute protection over herself from being in danger. Clara takes Rigsy's Chronolock and she has now got the tattoo counting down on her. When asking questions to others, The Doctor discovers that Rigsy tried to call the doctor when he had found out he was in the trap street and believes Me was trying to get him to come here. Clara also discovers that everyone except Anahson, daughter of Anah, was looking at Rigsy in a different way to everyone else. The Doctor and Clara find out she is really a girl and is dressed up as a boy to stay safe and to hide her ability to find the past and future in someone. She tells them that Me had made up a mystery to bring them here. They all go to where Anah's body is and find out she is alive and put inside a stasis chamber and can be only unlocked by the TARDIS key. When he opens it, his wrist is trapped and and a teleport bracelet is wrapped around his arm. Me arrives and tells them that the Doctor is to be teleported away to keep peace on the street. Me asks for the confession and what it is before she activates it. When she goes to remove the Chronolock from Rigsy, they discover Clara has it and that she cannot take it off her. Me had arranged to use the Chronolock on Rigsy and that she would not kill him or anyone. Clara broke that contract by accepting the Chronolock of Rigsy and cannot be able to take it off her. Me is stunned and horrified at this, protesting that she never meant to harm anyone and Clara is doomed to die.
The Doctor is furious with Me and threatens to unleash hell on her for all of time unless she saves Clara. Clara is horrified by the Doctor's anger and tries to calms him down. She makes him promise that he will not harm anyone who will come in his way of this and will not take revenge on what has happened, reminding him on why he became the Doctor. Clara touches the Doctor's face in sadness, who in turn tenderly kisses her hand. When the Chronolock counts down to zero, Clara goes outside to face the raven. The Doctor follows and watches her from afar. She stands there waiting for the raven and asks herself to be brave. The Raven strikes Clara, causing her to scream in an unbelievable amount of pain that the whole of the trap street can hear. Smoke comes out of her mouth and she drops to the floor dead. The Doctor returns back inside and tells Me why Clara had said what she had said. He also tells her to stay out of his way, saying that the universe can be a small place when he's angered, and he is soon transported away.
An unknown amount of time later Rigsy can be seen putting the finishing touches on his latest bit of graffiti- a mural dedicated to Clara on the front entrance of the now empty TARDIS. He then walks away, leaving the abandoned TARDIS with no Clara and no Doctor.
Cast
- The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
- Clara - Jenna Coleman
- Mayor Me - Maisie Williams
- Rigsy - Joivan Wade
- Kabel - Simon Manyonda
- Rump - Simon Paisley Day
- Anahson - Letitia Wright
- Chronolock Guy - Robin Soans
- Alien Woman - Angela Clerkin
- Habrian Woman - Caroline Boulton
- Elderly Woman - Jenny Lee
- Jen - Naomi Ackie
Uncredited cast
- Trap Street alien - Clem So[1]
Crew
to be added
References
- The Doctor and Clara visited the "second most beautiful garden in all of time and space", where Clara saved the Doctor from marrying a "giant sentient plant thing".
- When the Doctor searches for the trap street, he tells a young boy to "remember 82". This is possibly a reference to Earthshock, a story featuring the death of regular companion Adric, which aired in 1982.
- The Doctor threatens Me to save Clara, saying that he will bring UNIT, the Zygons, the Daleks, and the Cybermen down on her trap street.
Story notes
- This is the first story to feature the Twelfth Doctor in a burgundy version of his signature navy blue Crombie coat, similar to the coat he was first seen wearing during TV: The Day of the Doctor.
- In the credits, the word "Oods" is used to denote more than one Ood, rather than the established "Ood", as used in TV: The Impossible Planet.
- In one scene, there is a poster with a diagram of a flux capacitor, a direct reference to Back to the Future. It is accompanied by writings in Aurebesh, the main alphabet used in the Star Wars franchise. This writing spells out "Delorean", the car used in the Back to the Future franchise.
- This marks the first Doctor Who episode to have a post-credits scene. Previously, Death in Heaven had a mid-credits scene, but this is the first to have a post-credits one.
Ratings
- BBC One Overnight: to be added
- BBC America Overnight: to be added
Filming location
to be added
Production errors
to be added
Continuity
- The Doctor and Clara reunite with Rigsy, (TV: Flatline) and Me. (TV: The Girl Who Died / The Woman Who Lived)
- The Doctor and Clara find that Rigsy's memory of the last 24 hours have been wiped or "retconned". The retcon drug was frequently used by Torchwood Three. (TV: Everything Changes et al) The Doctor previously suggested to Me that, being a fellow immortal, she would cross paths with Captain Jack Harkness one day. (TV: The Woman Who Lived)
- Me considers the trap street to be a more favorable way of housing aliens on Earth as opposed to the settling of the Zygons. (TV: The Zygon Invasion / The Zygon Inversion)
- The Doctor's confession dial reappears. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice / The Witch's Familiar)
- Clara compares her coming sacrifice to that of Danny Pink. (TV: Death in Heaven)
- The TARDIS telephone rings. (TV: Aliens of London et al.)
- Clara tells the Doctor to "heal himself". This is reminiscent as the Eighth Doctor's final words were: "Physician, heal thyself". (TV: The Night of the Doctor)
- Clara asks the Doctor to be "a Doctor" and not "a warrior". She said something similar to the Eleventh Doctor when convincing him not to detonate the Moment. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
- Clara hangs outside of the TARDIS in order to find the mysterious cause of Rigsy's tattoo. The Eleventh Doctor once hung completely on the side of the TARDIS after falling out while being transported by UNIT to the Tower of London. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
- Clara says she loves Jane Austen. Clara previously taught classes about her and stated Jane was a great kisser. (TV: The Caretaker, The Magician's Apprentice)
- Clara tells the Doctor that his "reign of terror" will end at the sight of his "first crying child". (TV: The Beast Below, The Girl Who Died)
- The Doctor has previously had to deal with dangerous countdowns. (TV: 42, Flesh and Stone)
- Several alien species previously encountered by the Doctor are seen:
- Judoon (TV: Smith and Jones et.al)
- Sontarans (TV: The Time Warrior et al)
- Cybermen (TV: The Tenth Planet et al)
- Ood (TV: The Impossible Planet et al)
- Silurians (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians et al)
- Ice Warriors (TV: The Ice Warriors et al)
- Rigsy paints a mural on the TARDIS. This isn't the first time it has been graffitied (TV: Aliens of London) nor the first time someone has gone and painted it in his absence. (TV: The Happiness Patrol)
- The Doctor states he was lost once "a long time ago". (TV: The Waters of Mars, The Snowmen)
Home video releases
DVD releases
to be added
Blu-ray releases
to be added
External links
to be added